Princess Diana doco season
One of the toughest decisions when making a TV documentary is what to leave out.
With Diana: Our Mother, Her Life And Legacy (TV3, Tuesday), it was easy. When ITV sat down with Princes William and Harry they were quickly told leave out dad, granny and granddad, and mum’s relationship with Dodi Fayed. Yes, and Uncle Andy.
It didn’t matter. William and Henry made the doco on the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death to pay tribute to her life and what she’d achieved in the claustrophobic world of the royals.
It was a compelling programme and gave us an insight into two impressive young men who were willing to bare their souls about Mum. This was no 90-second clip of William playing polo or Harry and Meghan shopping for a retirement gift for granddad at Selfridges.
Harry, who admitted dealing with her death by ‘‘shutting her out’’, recalled Diana setting them up and ‘‘giving us the right tools’’, while William felt incredibly loved and ‘‘it’s still there’’.
But it wasn’t stuffy memories. Diana was one of the naughtiest parents Harry claimed, while William said she loved sending them rude cards. If Charles was watching at Clarence House, he’d twitch in his monogrammed jockeys.
The programme wasn’t just about the boys’ memories. It chronicled her life as a youngster and as a ‘‘young, fresh and unstuffy’’ bride. Diana was a working Princess who had the ability to touch people. Instead of becoming patron of the cactus and succulent society, she adopted causes such as campaigning for a global ban on landmines.
Now, I have nothing against cacti and some of my best friends are succulents, but Diana was different and refreshing. The boys have taken up her causes, such as the Child Bereavement Trust and The Passage charity, which helps homeless people.
Through the documentary, William and Harry unveiled themselves. William has Diana’s easy rapport with people, while Harry identifies with the disabled who want to achieve excellence in what they do.
Her legacy lives on in their memories, in the charities that bear her name, in the special garden at Kensington Palace and in a new generation. She’s granny Diana to young Prince George and Princess Charlotte. I can feel another twitch coming on in the Royal undies.
Television producer Dick Wolf is like author, James Patterson. There’s an avalanche of stuff coming out under his name, but the creative juices mostly flow from someone else. His Chicago franchise has just given birth to another offspring, Chicago Justice (Prime, Wednesdays).
Twenty years ago, Law and Order and SVU were ground breaking, but now his output is mediocre. Chicago Justice picks up an episode from Chicago PD, where an arsonist burns down a building, killing 39 and injuring many more.
Philip Winchester (Strike Back )is Peter Stone, a crusading prosecutor, handed the responsibility of bringing arsonist Dylan Oates to justice.
It seems straightforward and it is. Spurned by Tamra Collins, a woman who led a ‘‘perfect life’’, Dylan stalked her on social media and, when she didn’t invite him to her party, he took his revenge. The only fire she wanted was to light her candles, instead he burnt the building.
Now Philip, who normally saves civilisation as some sort of British operative in Strike Back, is limited to saving civilians. Instead of striding the danger highways of the world, he trudges between his office and the courtroom. For that, he needs a strong cast around him and an even stronger storyline. He doesn’t get either.
Perhaps Dick Wolf should dust off some early Law and Order stories that a new generation of viewers have never seen and hotwire them into Peter Stone. He’s a stone who should be boulder on his way to becoming Rocky Balboa.
Chicago Justice is saved by flashbacks from an earlier franchise episode, but Home Fires (Vibe, Mondays) doesn’t give you that luxury. It’s the second series of the lives of Women’s Institute members in the Cheshire community of Great Paxford.
It’s June 1940 and the community is bracing itself for the German invasion that never came.
Meanwhile, Dr Campbell has lung cancer, Claire Price is anxious about her son, David, missing in action, and Sarah explains why the church bells are silent.
Dunkirk might be raging, but Home Fires is the stuff of people’s lives and what they were doing during the war. It’s not easy picking up the threads, but hang in there. If Princess Diana was born in another era, she’d visit the village, mend the bells, treat Dr Campbell and bring David home. She was that sort of person.